Coders, come to the aid of your country

[Renew Deal]

This is the season of nonprofit giving, so allow me to draw your attention to one of my favorite nonprofit organizations, Code for America.

Based on the Teach for America model, Code for America helps civic-minded developers and designers channel their efforts into improving the way city governments work using Web technology. Just as Teach for America trains and sends capable teachers to underserved schools, Code for America recruits talented developers, designers, and product managers; gives them a crash course in municipal government; and sets them to work developing Web applications for selected cities.

The economic downturn has dealt -- and is continuing to deal -- a crushing blow to city budgets, in many cases halting initiatives that would improve government effectiveness over the long term. Code for America works with city managers to identify projects that can benefit most from Web-based solutions.

The 11-month Code for America fellowship program sounds like a fantastic way for young talent to gain experience. Fellows get a living-wage stipend, health care, and expenses-paid travel to their assigned city to network face-to-face and learn how that city's government functions. For 2011, the first year of the program, 20 fellows were selected from 362 applicants to work on projects for four cities: Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.
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http://www.infoworld.com/t/e-government/coders-come-the-aid-your-country-082